Process of manufacturing gas



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J. M. ROSE. PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING GAS.

Paten ted Nov. 19, 1889.

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UNITED STATES JAMES M. ROSE, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,564, dated November 19, 1889,

Application filed March 14, 1889. Serial No. 303,313- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES M. ROSE, a resident of Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Process of Manufacturing Gas; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to certain improvements in the manufacture of gas, its principal objects being to provide a process for sepa 'ating liquid hydrocarbons into their elements and entirely gasifying the same,so that all the different hydrocarbon gases contained in the liquid hydrocarbon are employed or utilized for gas-making purposes; and to accomplish this, especially in connec tion with the manufacture of gas by what is known as producer-gas process, where an air blast or draft passes through a body of coal, coke, or other carbon, and the products of combustion or producer-gas flow off therefrom and are subsequently treated.

A further object is to overcome the objections found in the present producer or generator gas processes to the decomposition of steam during the passage of the air blast or current through the body of carbon, as it is found that where the steam and air both enter at or near the base of the mass nearly all of the hydrogen is consumed, uniting with the air of the air-blast, and but a small portion passing into the resultant gases.

To these ends my invention consists, generallystated, in blasting a mass of coal, coke,

or other carbon to incandescence, passing steam downwardly upon such heated mass of carbon and so decomposing it in the upper part of the generator, and carrying the products of combustion or producer-gas formed thereby upwardly through a vertical chamber above the mass of incandescent carbon, and at the same time introducing liquid carbon at the upper end of that chamber, so that it will descend against the upward current of producer-gas and the lighter portions thereof will be driven off, while as the heavier portions descend through such chamber and against the current of gases they themselves are vaporized and carried off by the gases, and any undecomposed portions of the liquid hydrocarbon descend onto and will be broken up by the heat of the mass of incandescent carbon.

It also consists in other improvements, which will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

lo enable others skilled in the art to practice my invention, I will describe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a form .of gas apparatus suitable for practicing my invention, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each.

In said apparatus, the construction of which is described in application for Letters Patent filed by me of even date herewith, Serial N 0. 303,314, and which is shown in the simplest form in the present application, there are two cupola-generators A B and the upper treating-chamber C, which is placed at one side of the cupola-generatorA and above the cupola-generator B, said chambercommunicating with the cupola-generator A by means of a port or passage c, which is preferably made horizontal, as shown, so as to give a free passage between the generator and treating-chamber C,-and preferably opens directly from the upper part of the cupolagenerator to the lower part of the treatingchamber.

The cupola-generator is provided with the grate-bars a at the base thereof, the air-entrance a, steam-entrance a which are below the grate-bars, and the feeding-port or opening a. It has also the eduction-pipe f leading therefrom and controlled by a valve f, and opening into the pipe g, leading to the hydraulic main h. At the upper end of the generator A, or base of the chamber O, are the airentrance is and steam-entrance la. The generator B and the vertical chamber C communicate through a vertical cylinder or passage, which extends upwardly through the top wall of the generator B and the bottom wall of the chamber 0, and leads thence to or close to the upper end of the chamber C, this cylinder thus forming another chamber D within the chamber 0, and as it extends up vertically from the generator B forming a passage through which the gases can pass in an upward direction from the generator B. I can employ several sets of such chambers, communicating with each other in the manner above set forth but have limited the drawings and the description to such parts as are necessary for the fair understanding of the present invention; and when such apparatus is employed the generator B has the eductionpipe 6, leading therefrom to the hydraulic main H. The generatorB has also the gratebars I), the air-entrance b, and steam-entrance b below the grate-bars and feedin g-port b and has preferably an air-entrance inear the upper end of the generator. Extendin g through the upper chamber 0 and opening through the top wall of the generator B are one or more vertical steam-pipes p, these pipes being generally formed of metal, as they are not subjected to heavy pressure, an d the heat will pass quickly through the metal to superheat the steam. Steam is fed to the pipes 1) through the steam-entrances p at the upper ends thereof, and the lower ends of the pipes are open, so that the steam superheated and expanded therein will be injected with sufficient velocity to force part thereof for some distance downwardly into the mass of incandescent carbon, so that it is decomposed thereby. Like steam-superheating pipes may extend through the chamber C and open near the base thereof to feed superheated steam to the producer-gas from the generator A, these being shown in application for Letters Patent filed by me of even date herewith,

Serial No. 303,314. The chamber 0 is filled with broken fire-brick, fire-clay balls, furnaceslag, or other suitable refractory material, which surrounds the cylinder D and generally extends almost to the top of the chamber, extendingin the construction shown about to the upper end of the cylindrical chamber D; and over said body of refractory material I place an oil-injector 'n, of suitable form, by which crude petroleum, coal-tar, or other suitable hydrocarbon may be introduced into the said mass of refractory material. The cylinder D may either have a filling of like refractory material therein or extending partway up within the same, or may be empty, so that the liquid hydrocarbon introduced can pass in a free course down into the generator B.

At the upper end of the cylinder D, either entering through the top wall of the chamber 0 or passing horizontally'into said cylinder, is the oil entrance or injector m, by which oil is fed to the cylinder D. The said oil-entrances m and it may be simply valves through which the oil is fed under pressure; or the oil may be introduced by means of a steam-jet. The cylinder D in the simple form of the apparatussuch as shown in the drawings-opens into the upper end of the chamher 0; but for some gas-making purposessuch as described in an application for patent filed by me of even date herewith, Serial No. 303,312I may in a double apparatus simply carry the cylinder D through the chamber 6), and form the necessary communication between the same by means of valves.

In practicing my invention in the apparatus above described I fill the cupola-generators A B with coal, coke, or other suitable carbon, and I open the relief-valve from the upper or treating chamber C, and the airblasts through the pipes or b at the bases of said chamber, are forced through the masses of carbon in the generator, causing the combustion of the fuel therein, forming producer-gas, so heating up the mass of carbon, while in order to heat the chamber 0 and cylinder D air is supplied to said producergas or products of combustion at the upper ends of said generators through the ports 701', causing the combustion of the same within the chamber 0, and so heating up the mass of refractory material therein and heating the cylindrical chamber D, which is also heated by the combustion of the gases leading from the generator B, so that the apparatus may be quickly raised to the heat necessary for gas-making purposes.

Vhen the apparatus is properly heated, the relief-valve of the chamber 0 is closed, the

air is cut off from the generator B, and the eduction-pipe leadi n gfrom the same is opened, while the air-blast is continued through the chamber A. Oil is also fed through the injector n at the upper end of the chamber 0 and upon the refractory material therein, and the producer-gas formed in the generator A passes upwardly through the intercommunicating interstices of the refractory material in the chamber, there being therefore an upward current of gases through the same, while the coal-tar, crude petroleum, or other suitable liquid hydrocarbon. descends through said chamber against the current of gases passing upwardly through the same. There is therefore a more thorough intermingling of the oil with the products of combustion, the oil descending by its gravity through the chamber and against the current of gases rising through the same, so that it is more evenly distributed in the chamber. WVhile the lighter portions of the hydrocarbon are vaporized and carried off by the producer-gas in the upper part of the chamber, the heavier portions thereof descend within the chamber, coming into the part thereof more highly heated and being subjected to the producergas when more highly heated, so that the heavier portions of said hydrocarbon are thus vaporized and carried over by the producergas, while at the same time the hydrocarbon is exposed 011 the surface of the refractory material in such position that it can be the more easily taken up by the producer-gas. The

superheated steam injected into the chamber 0 at the base thereof, or an y steam employed to introduce the hydrocarbon at the upper end thereof, will be broken up in the presence of the producergas and the hydrocarbons,

IIO

thus adding to the volume of hydrogen within the gas and providing for the union of the hydrogen with the nitrogen for the formation of ammonia. The gases then pass down through the cylindrical chamber D, and thence through the mass of incandescent carbon in the generator 13, being fixed within said cylinder and mass of incandescent carbon and passing through the eduction-pipe e to the hydraulic main. This is continued until the mass of carbon in the generator A is raised to a high heat, and the heat of the mass of carbon in the generator B is so lowered that it will not properly fix the gas and convert any carbonic acid into carbonic oxide when the apparatus is reversed, the air-blast and steam-supply to the generatorA and the eduction-pipe e and the oil-entrance n being closed, and the eduction-pipe f, the air-blast at the base of the generator B, the steam-supply through the superheating-pipes p, and the oil-entrance m at the upper end of the cylinder D being opened. The air-blast in passing through the mass of carbon in the generator B then forms producer-gas, which is carried upwardly from the same, and the steam in passing downwardly through the pipes 19 is highly superheated and expanded, so that it is injected with considerable velocity downwardly into the cupola, part of it passing down into the mass of incandescent coal, which, as the upper part thereof is most highly heated, will immediately decompose it, all the hydrogen passing off instead of being consumed by the air of the air-blast, and the oxygen uniting with the carbon or carbonic oxide. By thus injecting the steam upon the top of the mass of carbon while the blast is passing into the base of the same I am enabled to form the producer-gas continuously, maintain the heat to decompose a large portion of steam, and enrichthe gas with all the hydrogen evolved therefrom. The gases then pass through the cylindrical chamber D, ris ing against the oil introduced into said chamber, which is descending by its gravity therein, and as the oil descends in said chamber against the current of gases its lighter portions are vaporized and carried off, as above described, while the heavier portions descend farther into the chamber and into a more highly-heated portion thereof, the mass of the heavier portions of the hydrocarbon being vaporized, and the portions not vaporized descending either through the refractory material therein or, where no such material is employed, directly through the cylinder into the mass of incandescent carbon contained in the generator B, and any such heavy portion of the hydrocarbon which comes in conmet with the incandescent fuel being immediately broken up into its elements of hydrogen and carbon and passing off with the gases. \Vhere no refractory material is employed in the cylinder the liquid hydrocarbon will be divided up into globular form in descending through the cylinder, and thus more evenly, distributed through the upward current of gases. The gases then pass from the chamber D into the chamber 0 and downwardly through the same and through the 'mass of incandescent carbonin the generator carbon or the carbon of the heavier hydrofor their union to form ammonia, and when the gases pass through the incandescent carbon the conditions are favorable for the formation of ammonia cyanide, which, with the ammonia, is removed in the hydraulic main or scrubber. In case the carbon in the generators becomes too highly heated, I admit steam to the same, the resultant water-gas passing in the same course as above described. During said gas-making operations a limited quantity of air may be admitted through the pipe is or the pipe t", according to the courses of the gases, to unite with the hydrogen and the hydrocarbon and set free the carbon thereof, so as to enrich the gases with carbon vapor, as fully described in an application for patent filed by me October 17, 1888, Serial No. 282,286.

As by my invention I am enabled to introduce the oil against the current of gases and to bring the heavier portions thereof into the increasing temperature in the lower part of the chamber into which it is introduced, I am enabled to more thoroughly vaporize the heavier portions of the hydrocarbon and cause their union with the producer-gas passing upwardly against the said hydrocarbon; and in case all of such heavy hydrocarbons are not broken up and carried over within the said chambers of the apparatus, as such heavier portions descend upon the incandescent carbon of the generator I am enabled to immediately break up the same into its constituent elements, and I also provide for the entire gasification of the liquid hydrocarbon and obtain. all the gases therefrom. I am also enabled as the liquid hydrocarbons descend against the current of the gases to subject them to an increasing temperature, and so insure their more rapid gasilication and the mixing of the gases so formed with the producengas. 9

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The hereiirdescribed process of making gas, consisting in simultaneously passing air upwardly through a mass of incandescent carbon, thus forming a producer-gas and passing steam downwardly upon said mass of incandescent carbon, so decomposing the same, and then passing the resulting gases upwardly from said massof incandescent carbon through a vertical chamber above the same, and at the same time introducing liquid hydrocarbon at the upper end of said chamber, so that it will descend against said upward current of the gases and be more thoroughly gasified thereby, and passing any undecomposed portions thereof onto said incandescent carbon, to be broken up by the heat of the same, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The herein-described process of making gas, consisting in simultaneously passing air upwardly through a mass of incandescent carbon and passing steam downwardly upon said mass of incandescent carbon, and then passing the gases so formed upwardly through a vertical chamber, and at the same time introducing liquid hydrocarbon at the upper JAMES M. ROSE.

Witnesses:

WM. P. MERCER, E. P. NEEDLIN. 

